Archive for March 2012

The Biomass Thermal Energy Council (www.biomassthermal.org) and Resource Professionals Group (www.resourceprofessionalsgroup.com) recently held a meeting with 24 of North America’s major biomass thermal equipment manufacturers. The half-day event was the second in a series of meetings to encourage open dialogue between industry leaders, geared towards identifying common impediments to growth and developing new networks and opportunities for biomass thermal applications.
“I put the ball in their court,” said John Karakash of RPG, the workshop’s facilitator. “These companies were presented with the proven benefits of standardizing the market for fuels and technologies. After Wednesday’s meeting, I feel confident that there will be more honest discussion on how to apply the tools that many alternative energy sectors already have, but that are underutilized by the biomass thermal industry.”
Discussions during the roundtable focused on directing industry attention towards manufacturing and fuel standards to increase acceptance by consumers, engineers and project developers. Sunil Nanjundaram, director of certification programs from the Air Conditioning Heating and Refrigeration Institute, made the case for biomass thermal manufacturers to take advantage of certification agencies to attract interest in biomass thermal energy from the architectural and engineering sectors.
“I’m encouraged by the new connections, conversations and building momentum from Wednesday’s session,” said Joseph Seymour, executive director of BTEC. “Manufacturers began developing solutions that expand their market share. That is something we can get behind.”

Pennville Custom Cabinetry recently debuted its new medallion logo that will brand all of its wood drawer products.

Pennville’s medallion, shown in a walnut drawer, will be featured on all top drawer orders.

Beginning April 1, all top drawers on all orders will include the medallion. Customers can select the wood species of the drawers for the same price as Maidstone drawers, with no upcharge for soft maple, the company says. For more information, please visit www.pennvillecabinetry.com.

Hermance Machine Co. is celebrating its 110th year in business by hosting an exposition featuring interactive and educational seminars on May 17-18, in Williamsport, Pa.
Presentations and live machine demonstrations relevant to the wood, plastics, composites, metal machining, fabricating and finishing industries will provide the opportunity to see the latest in manufacturing processes and demonstrations on how to best integrate machines from different manufacturers effectively. Some of the hands-on education programs include: setup and maintenance of machinery, including edgebander setup and maintenance, moulder setup and CNC fixturing and setup; optimizing saw systems; lean manufacturing; material handling/ labor reduction techniques; and more. The company says presentations are directed to improve customer processes, allowing for a collaborative environment with question and answer sessions for each concept in a public forum.
Those who register by May 1 will be eligible to enter a drawing for a new Apple iPad. More information is available at www.hermance.com/2012expo.

In recognition of World Forestry Day, the U.S. Geological Survey is working to promote awareness of the fate of forests from climate change.
To sustain the health and production of America’s forests, managers need sound science to guide their decisions, and USGS says it offers several initiatives across the U.S. and in other countries to provide science to understand climate change impacts to forests.
USGS scientists are working to detect what forest changes are happening and the associated impacts, while also developing forecasts and scenarios for what may happen in the future. USGS says there is a growing realization that climate warming may be linked to increasing forest fire size, severity and frequency because hotter temperatures result in reduced winter snowpack, earlier snowmelt, longer summer drought, and, therefore, drier conditions that are more susceptible to fire ignition.
The scientists have found that warmer temperatures and associated stress from drought are contributing to increased tree mortality in all major forest types around the world. The USGS is developing models to forecast expected changes in tree distributions given projected changes in climate. Other USGS research has also identified a rapidly rising death rate for trees in old-growth forests across the western U.S and scientists have also linked some recent outbreaks of tree-killing bark beetles in the West to warming temperatures.
USGS says long-term monitoring and sound science research on the impact of climate change on forests is needed to make the most informed decisions on managing and protecting these environmental resources. To learn more about ways USGS is promoting environmental awareness, please visit www.usgs.gov.

Cox Industries Inc. (www.coxwood.com) signed an asset purchase agreement with Atlantic Wood Industries Inc. (www.atlanticwood.com) in which Cox will acquire Atlantic’s wood treating plants and related operation.
Cox will acquire Atlantic’s wood treatment facilities in Vidalia, Ga.; Sylvania, Ga.; and Newsoms, Va., along with the sales and purchasing operations. The two companies says they will work toward completing the acquisition within the coming months. Cox says it intends to employee substantially all of the Atlantic team upon acquisition.

Universal Forest Products Granger LLC (www.ufpi.com) implemented software to track its moulder template library, machine setups and complete tooling lifecycle.
The tool-tracking software, developed by Intooligence LLC (www.intooligence.com), allows the company to easily search and organize its library of more than 300 tools. A setup time tracking feature also allows the company to enter a work center, product code, job number and amount of time it took to setup a machine. Intooligence trained the UFP employees at the Granger, Ind., facility.

Stiles Machinery will hold a “Manufacturing Intelligence – Premier IntelliStore Event” at its Grand Rapids, Mich., facility on April 18-19.
The event will demonstrate the features and benefits of using the Bargstedt IntelliStore panel management system, which loads, retrieves, stacks and feeds the correct panel size for a job. There will also be a Homag laserTec demonstration and opportunities to interact with vendors.
To register or for more information, please visit www.stilesmachinery.com. Those who register before the early registration deadline of April 4 will be provided with a complimentary one night hotel stay from Stiles.